SoCal Tech Calendar

MAY 2, 2019

Wednesday, May 8, 2019 -- CLU New Venture Fair. The New Venture Fair (NVF) is a valuable part of Cal Lutheran's entrepreneur education experience, in which student teams share their innovative startup projects in a competitive environment. They represent the brightest, most motivated, aspiring entrepreneurs on campus.

Education 100

Education Ideas Competition Entrepreneur 100

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

It really is possible for an introvert to succeed as an entrepreneur, even though you can’t expect to start and build a business alone. Every entrepreneur, especially an introvert, can benefit from the perspective of another business person, ideally one who has prior experience in the domain you are about to enter.

Entrepreneur 104

Entrepreneur Mentor Activity Startup 104

TechCrunch LA

MAY 20, 2021

Stella Wu, who formerly worked as a growth product manager at Wish, got firsthand experience of the pain points related to the process when she bought her own house in 2017. “I Eano, she said, offers competitive and transparent pricing so that homeowners aren’t surprised as a remodeling project goes on.

Technical Review 185

Technical Review Startup Venture Capital Software Review 185

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 11, 2022

Sure, we built SaaS products before the term even existed but at 31 it was hard to delineate reality from what all of the monied people around us were telling us what we were worth. In those years I learned to properly build product, price products, sell products and serve customers. Until we weren’t. billion fund.

Venture Capital 466

Venture Capital Startup Marketing Pricing 466

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

The rate of new entrepreneurs increased between 2013 and 2019, from 280 out of 100,000 to 310 out of 100,000 of the adult population. Of course, that’s both the good news and the bad news for aspiring entrepreneurs, since it means more competition, and the business landscape is changing faster than ever.

Tips 161

Tips Startup Social Media News 161

InfoChachkie

MARCH 21, 2019

Realizing the supportive linings represented a stand-alone product, Ida and Enid began giving away one bra for each dress purchased. Products such as the Symington Side Lacer were designed to flattened women’s breasts. Products such as the Symington Side Lacer were designed to flattened women’s breasts. Go Against The Flow.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Design Customer Custom 100

socalTECH

NOVEMBER 14, 2019

Maybe they might be using a platform like Shopify to sell their products and power their website, and they might use Facebook for advertising, and maybe they're using paid search with Google. Fast forward to 2019, and Shopify now has over a million stores in the world, man of them direct-to-consumer stores.

Startup 113

Startup Platform Commerce San Diego 113

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 9, 2019

With the advent and popularity of crowdfunding platforms, including Kickstarter and IndieGoGo , as a winning alternative for funding your new venture, I find that many aspiring entrepreneurs are confused about the need to ever seek a professional angel investor. Business-to-business products need professional investors.

Funding 119

Funding Startup Platform Examples 119

TechCrunch LA

SEPTEMBER 7, 2021

Created in 2014 and acquired by Dentsu in 2019, MuteSix was recommended to TechCrunch by Rhoda Ullmann, VP Consumer at Sense, a Boston-based startup building a home energy monitor. In today’s highly competitive ad environment, both content and data are kings. The key takeaway? What can you tell us about MuteSix as an agency?

Commerce 211

Commerce Content Marketing Startup 211

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 11, 2020

In my experience working with entrepreneurs, once they feel they have a winning formula for their business, they are often hesitant to change or update it. What worked for you yesterday probably won’t keep you alive and competitive tomorrow. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 12/20/2019.

Customer 143

Customer Custom Examples IBM 143

socalTECH

DECEMBER 27, 2018

Editor's note: All this week, and into the start of next year, we'll be featuring reflections on 2018 from notable investors, entrepreneurs, and others from Southern California's technology community. For the second year in a row 8 of the 10 companies selected for Techstars LA were local and we anticipate that trend continuing in 2019.

Startup 124

Startup Press Commerce Southern California 124

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2019

Every aspiring entrepreneur I know is convinced that his or her idea could be the next big startup, blossoming into a billion dollar unicorn. In my experience the key attributes in any sector would include the following: A product or service with depth and a robust set of features. Satisfy a “higher purpose” as well as a current need.

Startup 91

Startup Customer Custom Examples 91

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2019

A theme I often hear from the entrepreneurs and startups I advise is that once they see that first surge of traction from customers, they can relax and enjoy life for a change. In today’s world of growing competition and customer evolution , holding your own, and growing to the next level is a constant challenge that can never be ignored.

Ideas 77

Ideas Customer Custom Competition 77

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2020

Institutional venture capital dispensed in 2019 was down a bit from record highs the previous year, but up significantly over the last few years. Like big corporations with a heavy investment in existing product lines, it’s hard to stop linear investing to look for innovative new opportunities.

Funding 125

Funding Venture Capital Startup Class 125

socalTECH

JANUARY 28, 2019

What were doing in 2019, is scaling the company. The last fundraising we did was use to prove out our technology, and weve now had head-to-head competition with our competitors and others in the space to prove out our technology, our unique capabilities, and our unique approach to solving this problem.

Startup 187

Startup Technical Review Technology Competition 187

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 28, 2019

These things are clearly good for morale, but its not so clear that they translate into a competitive advantage. The overall approach to culture change that I and the authors recommend is to first assess your current culture for a liability, or a competitive disadvantage. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 06/14/2019.

Competition 76

Competition Coach Case Study Statistics 76

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 1, 2019

In today’s world of constant change and information overload via the Internet, content marketing and branding are often more important to success than product quality or technology. Position your products as delivery for on-demand services. Focus on product differentiation and setting yourself apart.

Social Media 73

Social Media Customer Custom Mobile 73

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 17, 2019

You are so engaged in building and selling your product or service, that you “don’t have time” to focus on strategy and the next round of changes for the business to survive and grow. Highlight your competitive value, not your technology. before developing new products or carving out a new and untested space for your business.

Technical Review 87

Technical Review Customer Custom Competition 87

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 31, 2019

After working in business at all levels, and consulting to entrepreneurs for years, I’m still surprised to see so many situations where things that should be easy are painful to customers, and lead to customers hating your business. Accelerating worldwide competition and financial upheavals are undermining established market positions.

Customer 83

Customer Custom Demand Examples 83

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 25, 2019

Yet in today’s competitive and rapidly changing world, top notch sales and marketing skills are critical to the success of every business. In todays’ rapidly changing world, there are over 30,000 new products introduced every year, so it’s easy to slip into that unseen majority and fail.

Mentor 90

Mentor Startup Sales Examples 90

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 14, 2019

In the entrepreneur world, it’s still a popular misconception that the “idea” is everything. Very few businesses can grow organically fast enough to stay ahead of competition. Marty Zwilling First published on Inc.com on 09/27/2019. The power is in the people, their business relationships, and their connections.

IBM 87

IBM IBM Ideas Technical Review 87

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2019

This statement leaves no confusion in the minds of investors, or customers, of what the company does and how it is different (and better) than the competition. Great products solve painful real problems, and are not just “nice to have” or “easier to use.” Building a product is not the same as building a business.

.Net 73

.Net Examples Customer Custom 73

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 1, 2019

Owners realize that customers and the market change rapidly these days, and innovative change is necessary to keep ahead of competition and survive. Highlight your productivity and efficiency rather than workload. Thinking like an owner in your current job is especially valuable if you are contemplating a future as an entrepreneur.

Technical Advisors 75

Technical Advisors Startup Satisfaction Customer 75

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 30, 2019

What every entrepreneur needs more than anything else, after they have built an innovative new product or service, is visibility, credibility, and trust by customers, potential employees, and future business partners. Successful businesses require the best people to deliver your vision and services one step better than the competition.

Writing 19

Writing Technical Review Entrepreneur Advertising 19

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 28, 2019

In reality, it takes a collaboration of many good people to build and run a business, even though the original idea probably did come from that innovative entrepreneur. Solo or autocratic entrepreneurs usually don’t survive, due to required skills and a workload far beyond the capacity of a single human.

Entrepreneur 94

Entrepreneur Technical Review Ideas Tool 94

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 30, 2019

In my work with new and aspiring entrepreneurs, I find that most struggle with putting together a written business plan, often pointing out that someone they know started a business without anything written down. You really need at least a prototype product or customer to make the video come alive. Make it light, but factual.

Ideas 126

Ideas Slides Sample Examples 126

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 12, 2019

Much has been written recently about the requirement to focus today on the total customer experience, as a competitive edge or even for survival. The challenge I hear from savvy business owners and entrepreneurs operating on a shoestring is that providing a superior customer experience costs money.

Customer 96

Customer Custom Coach Pricing 96